A blog about dreams. If you have had any of the experiences listed in this blog and feel the information is of value; please share, digg, facebook, email the material to help others. This blog strives for the highest quality of knowledge for the topics at hand.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

The Anatomy of a Precognitive Dream

Definition
A precognitive dream is a type of dream that comes true as a future event. It is also known as Déjà Rêvé (Art Funkhouser, Dr. Vernon Neppe).[1] It can bring about the same sensations associated with Déjà Vu such as the Déja Vu Aura, goose-bumps etc.

Types of Precognitive Dreams

Symbolic Precognitive Dream.

Literal Precognitive Dream.

3rd Person Precognitive Dream.

Lucid Precognitive Dream.[2]

Symbolic Precognitive Dream
Dream symbolism abstracts the precognitive information and generally is not realized up until the actual event. This can be a very difficult type of dream to identify as a type of precognitive dream, however certain symbols in the dream can match or greatly exaggerate the future event when it actualizes. The accuracy and quality of this type of dream should be considered of a low grade type of precognition.

Literal Precognitive Dream
From a first-person view, this type of precognitive dream in literal detail. What you sense, think and feel in the dream can actualize in the future-tense when the dream actualizes. This dream can bring about a Déjà Vu aura however linking the memory of the déjà to a dream is what classifies this type of dream as Déjà Rêvé.

3rd Person Precognitive Dream
From a third-person vantage point, this type of precognitive dream can take on both symbolic and literal similarities however does not suggest that the information being observed will occur from a first-person point of view.

Lucid Precognitive Dream
A lucid dream is a dream where a person is awake and realizes that they are dreaming. This alert and awakened focus state also can emerge within the phenomena of precognitive dreams. This type of precognitive dream can have an even more pronounced déjà vu aura then a non-lucid precognitive dream. Robert Waggoner explains there are two types of lucid precognitive dreams: Active and Ambient.[4]
In an active lucid precognitive dream, the dreamer actively tries to engage the precognitive dream, where in an ambient lucid dream the dreamer passively observes the dream remaining within the usual dream flow.

History
Babylonian "Epic of Gilgamesh" a Sumerian Poem suggests precognitive dreams in tablet 1 where Gilgamesh dreams about the imminent arrival of two companions, or the ominous dream received by Enkidu on tablet 6. The "Epic of Gilgamesh" is one of considered one of the oldest works of literature and predates biblical text at approximately 2150BC and could be one of the earliest suggestions of precognitive dreams.[5]

Aristotle published a paper entitled "On Prophesying by Dreams" [6]written in 350BC which questions with skepticism the validity of claims by those who say they have dreams of the future. He does not completely refute the notion of precognitive dreams, however understands that much of what is dreamed could be coincidence. It's clear that ancient Greeks subscribed to prophecy as evident in Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey" where in Cassandra is granted the gift of prophecy by Apollo. The Greek God Morpheus resides in a land of Dreams somewhere in the Underworld where two gates exist, one that sends false dreams through the gate of ivory, and the other that sends prophetic dreams gate of horns.

Theory
Answers to why precognitive dreams occur may lie in quantum mechanics and the effects on consciousness. If future information exists, as suggested by people who claim to experience precognition, certain theories in Physics might apply, for example Hugh Everett many-worlds interpretation [6], which is an evolving theory stemming from Erwin Schrödinger's cat paradox [7].

In a quantum view of a many-world system, every possible past, present and future probability could theoretically exist as probability. We know through quantum superposition that a particle can exist in every possible state until observed. Physicists are just starting to understand quantum information, and if this information is non-linear and existing within an astronomical data-set, it is possible that the Universe has organized into a complex information system and data structure that had per-populated itself with a myriad of probability that may exist in an astronomical scale.

Stuart Hameroff[8] proposes that the human brain is both a Neurocomputer and Quantum computer [9]. The link to the computational nature of the brain and how quantum mechanics may link to consciousness could explain that some type of entanglement and superposition affects human consciousness. Pemrose and Hameroff [10] have discerned that the brain uses coherent photons as part of the brain mechanics and is used to preform information processing. Photons contribute to what we view as consciousness, and consciousness itself may have quantum states that through time and research we can unravel.

The Universe itself can be viewed as information that our brains must access and render into a model that we call subjective reality. A unique first-person vantage point within an objective dataset. Regardless of how objective reality is, it must always be subjectively experienced by a conscious observer.

The nature of quantum mechanics is revealing through superposition that matter and energy could also be viewed as information. If we consider the Universe as an information system, then past/present/future could exist in every possible conceived state as probability and data. Digital Physics, first termed by Edward Fredkin [10] has emerged with serious considerations that Reality itself could be computative in nature, a Universal computer so to speak.

In Brian Witworths work, there is a quote that seems to resonate with the nature of precognitive dreams, "This makes this world a recursive interface, that both sends to and receives from itself. If so, it is like no other information interface that we know."

It is in this quote and within the nature of precognitive dreams that we may see the emergence of the recursive feedback in the form of probable reality in a dream, to the actualized reality when the dream comes true. It could be suggested that the precognitive dream itself is a form of reality per-programming within this recursive interface, and the actualization of the dream is the feedback within the greater system.

How is this possible? What are the mechanics that drive this system and allows for non-linear, non-localized dreams to actualize into reality? At this point, we have theories and ideas evolving from those who understand and see a relationship between consciousness and reality. If we look again at physics, there is another anomaly that suggests the observe affects wave-function collapse: "Wave function, initially in a superposition of different eigenstates, appears to reduce to a single one of the states after interaction with an observer. In simplified terms, it is the condensation of physical possibilities into a single occurrence, as seen by an observer."

The observer effect brings about the measurement problem in Quantum Mechanics and stirs the debate if wave-function collapse occurs at all, however the Double-slit experiment[16] demonstrates wave / particle duality and further entangles the observer into the role of one who collapses wave function.

This is an interesting enigma within science, it suggests a link between the observer and the observed. That deterministic probability is being actualized as the observer renders reality through the act of collapsing wave-function and probability. It seems like a stretch to the imagination but we are talking about precognitive dreams here.

Dreaming for the most part is a passive experience where we project our thoughts, ideas and emotions into a virtual 3D world based on the principles of organized thought. At some point within this creative process of dreaming, certain dreams appear to qualify as "precognitive" in nature. A seeming unknown potential that does not become apparent to the dreamer, until the dream actualizes and the individual is left with the realization that what was once dreamed of, is now actual.

Anatomy of a Precognitive Dream
If we take for face value what a precognitive dream is, it is a type of dream that has future potential. In order for such a dream to come true, it must actualize into an event in physical reality. In the case of a literal precognitive dream, the dream is observed from a subjective vantage point, the physical event that the dream actualizes into must also be perceived from the same subjective vantage point.

This suggests that reality exists in two states: A state by which a person can dream of a future event, and a state where this event actualizes into a physical event. It suggests there is a direct relationship between what is dreamed, and what is later experienced in reality.

In a linear context, the precognitive dream pre-dates the physical event that it represents. In looking at the origin of the physical event. We have an answer to a Causality Dilemma known as, "What came first, the chicken or the egg?" In the case of "What came first, the dream or reality", in the case of precognitive dreaming, the precognitive dream came first.

Precognitive dreaming is in fact a paradox that exists within the subjective vantage point of certain observers who have had enough memory, awareness and perception during a certain dream that qualifies as a precognitive event. What also makes this unique is that people who often have precognitive dreams, have a varying degree of frequency, clarity and quality. It can range from one precognitive dream in their entire life, to many.

Then there are those who do not have any precognitive dreams, they may not have first-person experience with this paradox to even begin accepting that such a phenomena is real and possible. For the most part, these people are skeptical of others who claim they have. It is up to you to decide what dreams you have had, that qualify as precognitive or not. You can only know through the process of actualization if a dream has any precognitive worth.

A reason as to why this is, (Why some do and some don't) may have been answered by Tom Campbell who wrote the trilogy entitled, "My Big Toe"[11], where he describes the Psi Uncertainty Principle. The Psi Uncertainty Principle allows for individual growth in areas that may be construed as paranormal or spiritual, without affecting or having impact on others who are not ready to grow in certain areas. Precognitive dreams certainly fit within the described theory as something that affects individual growth more so then affecting many with any mass effect.

Tom also suggests there is a metaphorical big computer (TBC) that organizes data into reality. This idea takes us back to digital physics and virtual reality theory however, precognitive dreams are providing some insight as to how the program is potentially written in the first place.

In our causality dilemma, where we have a dream preceding physical reality, finding this dream / reality duality becomes very profound, the implications of what this entails may shift our entire physical paradigm into something more idealistic in nature. This becomes very apparent when we start to deconstruct dreaming into a more understandable system.

At the heart of dreaming, there is one observable fact: Dreams are organized thought.

Unlike physical reality where we have atoms, molecules and gravitational forces etc. Dreams are mind-generated thoughts organized into an experience that is similar to how we perceive our physical reality. When you are dreaming and see light, textures and objects, every aspect of the dream environment can be reduced back to thought that has taken on the role of creating many sensory states to render out the dream experience.

There are no atoms, molecules or gravitational forces, everything is thought. Evidence that thought can form audible and visual patterns in our mind stem from self-evident exploration of your own thought process. Sub-vocalization of your voice occurs when you read. It is common to have an internal faint voice sounding out the words within your mind. This is an example of thought taking on the form of sound. Another example is imagining an image in your mind. If you imagine an apple or an orange, you might have a faint visual image in your mind of these objects. If you close your eyes, relax the images can become quite vivid and strong.

Thought has the ability to mimic sensory states and dreaming is a prime example of sub-vocalization and visualization taken to the next level. All the five physical sense can be observed in dreams, and each of them are following the same principles of sub-vocalization. It is organized thought organized into non-verbal thought forms to render your ideas into a virtual reality experience within the dream state.

If dreams are thoughts? How does this apply to a dream that has precognitive potential? It would certainly appear that all the information in a dream is organized thought, more specifically, your thoughts. If this is the case? How is it that something that starts as organize thought, later actualizes into a physical even in your waking reality? This is one of the most challenging questions that the paradox of precognitive dreaming presents.

The nature of the experience suggests that the originating dream is the source of the soon to be actualized reality. Could our thoughts play a role in the organization of information that is later processed and made actual by Tom's metaphorical Big Computer? Are we in fact creating the precognitive dream in the same manner that we create all our dreams? The implications that stem from precognitive dreaming could change everything we thought we knew about our reality.

Reality may in fact originate from the process of dreams. Dreams may in fact be a reality programing language that later renders into an experience when the dream actualizes and is made real. In the precognitive dream paradox, we know that Physical Reality appeared first in a dream, as organized thought. What makes it different when the dream actualizes? What makes it the same? What are the relationships between these to states by which we observe an experience of reality?

I am not suggesting any answers, but it is hard to dismiss the role of thought within the original dreamed experience. The concept that thought creates reality is a very ancient idea. In the precognitive dream paradox, it may in fact have more merit then not. If we take Tom Campbell's work at face value and look at the possibility that the origins of the Universe and Reality stem from consciousness and matter originated out of how consciousness organized itself, then precognitive dreaming within consciousness space starts to provide potential evidence of a Universe that is founded on the ideas that consciousness creates.

As some one who has experienced precognitive dreaming, another step up in this experience comes from lucid dreaming. Very few people have written about what lucid precognitive dreaming actually is. Robert Waggoner, the President of the International Association for the Study of Dreams wrote in his book, "Lucid Dreaming: The Gateway to the Inner Self" [17]that there is two types of lucid precognitive dreams: Ambient and Active.

Ambient lucid precognitive dreams are where you be come awake and aware that you are dreaming. You go with the flow of the dream and when the dream actualizes and comes true, you have the self-evidence you need to affirm that you indeed were awake and conscious in a lucid precognitive dream. Active lucid precognitive dreams are where you engage the dream with action based on being lucid and awake. What action you took as a result of this decision making opportunity also actualizes when the dream comes true.

Precognitive dreaming suggests that there is a relationship between dreams and reality; it offers first-person experience with this relationship to those who have precognitive dreams. It suggests that dreams might be a type of reality programming language; a means by which we all collectively are co-creating an objective reality through subjective paradigms using a system of organized thought.

There is that saying, "Thought creates Reality". This is true for dreams; thought certainly creates dream realities. The real push is to see this working mechanically in real-life examples. It seems to me at least; precognitive dreaming presents this revelation. The implications for this if true; is staggering.

I just wanted to add a footnote: Art Funkhouser contacted me and wanted to say he likes to reserve the term Déjà Rêvé for a dream remembered at the moment of the occurringDéjà experience and if the person remembers the dream clearly prior to the actualization; then it should be simply called a precognitive dream.

It is a bit technical but in his line of research; he deals with a very broad range of "déjà experiences" so the need to be very technical and detailed is apparent.

The other footnote is the use of the term "aura" as it has the unfortunant link to TLE so I want to emphasise for technical purposes that a precognitive dream aurais not at all the TLE or Migrane aura and a scientific classification to distinquish aura types is most likely needed and pending.

He has also provided a link to a form for anyone interesting in submitting their Déjà experiences at: Déjà Vu Survey

1 comment:

Dreams are real, and when we learn to pay attention to them and understand them. Then maybe it may help with those hard decisions in life. You probably already no the answer too because they can so easily come to you in your dreams. Just do not be afraid to dream.